Security top concern among IT decision makers

The majority of European firms list security as their top IT priority this year, according to a new survey by analyst Forrester of over 1,000 IT decision makers in enterprises and SMBs.

The research also found that 80 percent of firms of all sizes regard manageability as their number one requirement when making purchasing decisions.

The need for easier-to-manage products has been driven in part by the consolidation in the industry, according to Forrester analyst and research co-author Bill Nagel.

"Anytime there is a large number of products each solving specific problems and [lacking] interoperability, there is only a matter of time before the users get fed up," Nagel explained.

The research also indicates that the amount of spending on security seems to be stabilising, which is a positive development, Nagel added.

"We're trying to push people towards the idea of making security a proactive, business, process-based initiative, and if [the spending] levels out, it looks like people are listening to us," Nagel said.

The report also shows a notable increase in the importance of business continuity and disaster recovery on the agenda of IT decision makers, driven in part by compliance requirements.

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